The awards were established by the editors to “gently dissuade authors and publishers from including unconvincing, perfunctory, embarrassing or redundant passages of a sexual nature in otherwise sound literary novels.” They are annually awarded to the author who produces the worst, most laughable and/or jarring description of a sexual encounter in a modern novel.

In its review, The Nation noted that The Kindly Ones, a "fictive memoir of a Nazi SS officer, is intentionally sickening and an unquestionably brilliant success."